All the Way to China
by rainlady
Summary: After his best friend moves back to his homeland Eight Year old Alfred decides to dig a hole to China.  AU


**~All the Way to China~**

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Author's Note: I started this intending for it to be short and cracky based on the premises of an AU Alfred trying to dig a hole to China it ended up really long and while that's still the heart of it...it kind of bent towards serious in the middle so I'm not really sure what this is anymore a normal fic with cracky leanings a cracky fic with serious leanings? I guess I'll just label it as Crack to be safe since I'm pretty sure most 8 years olds don't act like this in real life. Though it is Alfred so maybe I can get away with it...

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Alfred F. Jones was running away from home.

It wasn't the first time he'd made such an attempt but it was the first time that it wasn't as a result of a fight with his father and it was the first time that he had a real destination in mind and even knew how to get there all on his own. He, at only 8 years old, was going to be the first person to ever dig their way through the center of the earth to China. He had a plan and there was absolutely nothing that could possible get in the way of him getting there. Nothing.

"498...499...500..." he let out a breath as he softly counted off the numbers.

The house was dark and silent. Everyone else was asleep and there hadn't been a sound from his father or his annoying brother since he'd begun his count. He contemplated continuing on through 1000 like he'd originally planned but with the house so silent it seemed foolish to wait that much longer. He wanted to get away and get started...maybe he could even be in China before the sun rose there in Boston.

He rolled out of bed and as quietly as he could he shed his PJs, his favorite pair with the red white and blue rocket ships on them, revealing the jeans and t-shirt he had underneath it. Then he reached under his bed and pulled out his backpack and shoved the PJs into it next to a few pairs of underwear, some comic books, a flashlight with extra batteries, two bottles of water, a half a loaf of bread, one half eaten jar of peanut butter and one can of chocolate frosting, that he may have taken a few swipes out of before putting it into the bag, and one clean spoon. He also had the map that Yao had given him that had China on it, somewhere on it though he wasn't quite sure where it was located even though he'd been shown where at least once but couldn't remember now, his stuffed bunny rabbit, the entire contents of his piggy bank (twenty dollars and 54 cents) and a small picture of himself his father and his brother.

But he wouldn't admit that last was there even under punishment of death.

Quietly he put on his nylon jacket and stuffed his feet into his sneakers and carefully crossed the room. He'd almost made it through the door when a soft voice spoke up from behind him.

"You're supposed to be asleep," his brother Matthew said.

"So are you," he snapped back in irritation.

"I was but you woke me," Matthew said with a sigh there was the shifting sound of blankets and Alfred knew he'd have to work fast to keep his brother from finding out what he was planning.

"Well go back to bed, I'm just getting a drink of water," he said quickly.

"Oh...okay..." Matthew said with a sleepy yawn and Alfred might have gotten away free and clear had a car not passed on the road outside their house spreading it's headlights across the room and revealing him and the truth. "Why are you dressed? Why do you have your backpack? Are we having a fire drill? 'Cause I got the best in class award for the last one!"

Alfred rolled his eyes. His brother had been going on about that award for weeks now. Even their dad was proud of him and had displayed it on the fridge, covering up one of Alfred's awesome alien drawings in the process. Alfred thought it was a stupid award, and he wasn't just saying that because he hadn't won it, it was made of silly construction paper and glitter. He thought about saying yes that there was a fire drill but Matthew wouldn't fall for that for long.

"No..." Alfred said carefully and then decided that if he told his brother the truth maybe just this one time he would back him up. "I'm going to see Yao."

"Yao?" Matthew echoed in confusion. "But he just went back to China..." his brothers eyes grew impossibly wide after he said those words. "You're running away again!" he squeaked.

"No, I'm not!" Alfred insisted with a huff. "I'm not...I'm just...leaving..."

"You're running away!" Matthew said again climbing to his feet on the bed. "I'm telling dad!"

"You're such a tattle tale!" Alfred said with huff.

"I am not!" Matthew whined in indignation.

"Yes you are you brat!"

"I'm telling dad you called me a brat!"

"See!" Alfred pointed out in triumph. "You are nothing but a tattle tale!"

They glared at each other. Finally Matthew frowned and settled himself so that he was sitting on the end of his bed and stared at Alfred. Alfred crossed his arms across his chest and stared back. It Matthew wanted he could start hollering and their dad would be in there in seconds and Alfred wouldn't be able to leave that evening and probably would end up grounded. Silence stretched for a what felt like a really long time as Matthew chewed on his bottom lip.

"How are you gonna get to China?" he asked. "It's far 'way and across an ocean. Miss Héderváry showed it to us on the map the other day."

That was where Alfred had seen it he remembered now, it had been the day after Yao had told him he was leaving asked about it. Miss Héderváry had seemed so surprised by his question, or at least that it didn't have to do with space invaders or giant sea monsters, that she had devoted the rest of the day to talking about China. It wasn't Alfred's fault that geography was boring, who wanted to learn about places that everyone new everything about already...he wanted to learn about places that no one had ever been to. At the time China hadn't seemed like it was that far away on the map besides that didn't matter he wasn't going to go the long way to get there but take a much more awesome shortcut.

"I'm not gonna go by the ocean," he said smugly.

"Then how are you gonna go?" Matthew said with a shake of his head. "They won't let you on a plane by yourself and you know it."

Alfred frowned trying not to remember the last time he'd tried to run away and had been told politely over the phone that he was too young to be ordering plane tickets and was there a grown up there that they could speak with. He'd been in the process of trying to order them on the computer when his father had walked in on him. He still hadn't been allowed back on the computer without his father hanging over his shoulder and he still hadn't figured out what his father's new password was and Matthew wouldn't tell him either. That had been a year ago before he'd met Yao at the park and the strange older boy had become his best friend.

"Not gonna go by plane either," he said with a shake of his head.

"Then how?" Matthew asked?

"I'm gonna get there by digging!" Alfred said straightening up feeling full of pride for his really smart idea. That is until his brother started laughing at him.

"You can't get there by diggin'!" Matthew said with a snort.

"Yes you can!" Alfred insisted not about to allow his brother's annoyingness ruin his mood. "You can dig right down through the center and come up in China!"

"Who told you that?" Matthew asked still looking like he was trying not to laugh.

"Lovino told me," Alfred said with a frown. "I had him ask his uncle Antonio and his friends because they're all so smart and awesome and that's what they told him!"

"You're not supposed to be listening to anything Lovino has to say," Matthew pointed out with a frown. "Especially if he gets it from his uncle. You know dad said so!"

"Dad's just jealous of him...that's what Francis says," Alfred said with a huff.

"Dad says it's the other way around that Antonio is jealous of him...something about a boat races ages and ages ago that he lost and he's still angry about and they all make up bad stuff about dad that never ever happened no matter how much they insist it did...especially Francis!" Canada said.

"I thought you liked Francis..." Alfred said slyly. "'Cause he made you that paper rose that one time when you fell off your bike and hurt yourself...the one that dad got so angry 'bout and took from you...you cried for hours after that!"

"I didn't cry for hours!" Matthew said his cheeks puffing out and getting a bit pink. "I shouldn't have taken it from him anyway...we're not supposed to take anything from them or be alone with them except Gilbert and that's only when Ludwig is around."

"I don't see why we can't be around them," Alfred said with a shake of his head. "They're awesome and know lots of really cool things. Gilbert was going to show me how to blow up matchbox cars with firecrackers this summer...but...I guess I won't be here for that..." he frowned he had really wanted to see Gilbert do that but Yao was much more important then that.

"You're really going to go to China?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah..." Alfred said with a nod. "That's where Yao is...he's my best friend. Best friends aren't supposed to be apart."

"But twins aren't supposed to be apart neither," Matthew said softly.

Alfred frowned at that. He knew that was true and looking at his brother he didn't want to be apart from him he was going to miss him even if he was really annoying sometimes. They were brothers though and that meant they would always be connected but Yao might forget him and he couldn't allow that not when Yao was the only person that really took him seriously when he talked about all the crazy things he wanted to do when he grew up. He couldn't loose Yao he just couldn't.

"Think about it, Mattie," he said not liking the sad look on his brother's face. "If I leave I won't be around to get in trouble all the time, I won't be around to get you in trouble all the time, you'll get to have the room all to yourself and all my toys and stuff...and...and dad will pay you lots of attention 'cause you'll be the only one around...think about it!"

Matthew did seem to think about it. He even seemed like he might actually be thinking about letting Alfred leave without alerting their father. Alfred knew there was a chance he did cause and awful lot of trouble and often dragged his brother into his crazy schemes with him. But his hope fell apart when Matthew's face screwed up into a very serious and determined expression. The look he got when he didn't want to eat his carrots, or leave his teddy bear Kumajirio behind at home instead of taking him to school, or didn't want to take a bath even though it had the awesome bubbles in. His brother was stubborn, more stubborn then anyone Alfred had ever met, when he wanted to be.

"No," Matthew said with a shake of his head. "You can't go dad will be really upset!"

"No he won't," Alfred insisted. "He won't miss me at all 'cause he'll have you and you're the good one that does what he's told, most of the time, and doesn't try to charge things to the credit card."

"You know that's not true," Matthew said in as stern a voice as an 8 year old could muster. "He'll miss you a lot and you'll miss him and I'll miss you..."

"I'll miss you too Mattie," Alfred admitted softly.

"They I'm not gonna let you go!" Matthew said.

"You can't stop me!" Alfred snapped back glaring at his brother.

"Oh yes I can!" Matthew answered back.

Then he slid off the edge of the bed and placed his feet firmly on the ground and opened up his mouth. Alfred's eyes widened as he realized in another second that Matthew was going to start calling for their dad. He dropped his backpack and darted across the room clamping a hand down on his brother's mouth before he could get more then a "Da" out. There was a scuffle between then for a brief moment, but eventually Alfred had his arm around his brother pinning him slightly and the hand still clamped on his mouth.

"Sorry, Mattie," he mumbled looking away from the hurt expression on his brother's face. "But you were gonna tell on me."

Then he shuffled them over towards the closet, glad he'd left it partially open before they'd gone to bed and stuffed his brother inside. He could hear his brother yelling at him and kicking at the door as he shut it almost all the way leaving it just barely unlatched and pulling one of the chairs in the room in front of it. If his brother pushed hard enough he'd be able to get the door open but it would hopefully give him enough time to get himself away before he got loose and went and told their dad. Through the door he heard a thump and then what sounded like his brother crying. He felt awful he didn't like hurting his brother but really he had no choice Matthew was going to tell on him. Alfred was glad he'd be long gone before then because he was going to get in so much trouble for this.

"Mattie," he called softly but hopefully loud enough for his brother to hear. "It's not shut all the way you can get out if you push hard enough."

Then he hurried back across the room grabbed his backpack and headed down the hall. His father's room was still dark and silent. He breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed passed the open door and headed down the stairs skipping the squeaky ones with practiced ease he reached the bottom and crept across the house towards the back door. He moved a kitchen chair over so he could reach the latch and opened and shut the door behind him. He crossed into the back yard dumping his bag near his father's garden and then approached the tool shed cautiously.

He hated the shed it was old, older then the house even, and rickety and looked like just the sort of place and evil troll or space alien might like to take up residence. Matthew had told him when they were younger that it was haunted, that he had even seen the tools inside move about all on their own, their father had assured him that Matthew had only said those things to upset him and that it absolutely wasn't true. Alfred hadn't quite believed his father at the time and now in the dead of night with the wind whipping through the broken windows making an eerie sound he really hope that Matthew had just been playing a trick on him.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, reached in and quickly grabbed one of the smaller shovels his father had gotten for him and his brother, and slammed the door shut again before anything had the chance to move around on him. Then he hurried back to the garden and keeping the shed in his line of site, which meant that the house was to his back, he settled himself down and began digging in the soft soil of the lettuce bed.

He dug and dug and dug. His arms started to ache and he was sweating so badly he had to take his jacket off but he kept digging. Soon, after what must have been hours, he had himself a small hole started. Needing to rest he moved away from the dirt and sat down next to his backpack and pulled out one of the bottles of water and took a tiny sip and after a moment he reached back in. He'd been planning to make a sandwich with the bread and the peanut butter but he grabbed the frosting instead and the spoon and took a few spoonfuls and surveyed his work. It was a lot harder work then he had anticipated and maybe it would take him a little longer to get to China then he had thought but he felt he had made a good start.

"That's quite the impressive start you've made, Alfred."

Alfred yelped in surprise in the unexpected voice. He tried to jump to his feet, stumbled and landed back on his butt the can of frosting and the spoon flying in opposite directions. He groaned in pain as his butt began to ache flopping onto his back he looked up as his father stepped into his line of sight.

"You okay?" his dad asked crouching next to him.

"Yeah," Alfred nodded a bit pitifully as his father helped him sit up.

"You were running away," his dad said as he settled on the ground next to him.

"No, I wasn't!" Alfred insisted but he wilted as his father turned and raised one of his impressive eyebrows at him. "Not...really..."

"You locked your brother in the closet..." his dad continued in a voice that said that he was going to be in a lot of trouble about that later.

Alfred let his eyes drift towards the house. He could just barely make out his brother standing at the window from their room that looked out over the back yard. When he realized that Alfred was looking his way the small figure disappeared. Alfred dropped his head it was going to take a long while for his brother to forgive him, a long time, all his ice cream and probably a few of his treasured action figures. He thought about trying to point out to his dad that he hadn't really locked Matthew in the closet but knew that would only make things worse.

"Yes..." he finally mumbled when he realized his father was waiting for an answer.

"You packed a bag and snuck out of the house in the middle of the night..."

"Yes..." Alfred nodded his head.

"You made a mess of both yourself and my garden by digging in it for a half an hour..."

"Ye..." he started and then jerked his head up and gapped at his father. "Only a half hour?" he whined then ducked his head back down as his father continued to stare at him sternly. "Yes," he finally answered.

"And you're trying to tell me that you weren't trying to run away?" his father finally finished.

"No...I wasn't!" Alfred insisted looking up at his dad with pleading eyes. "I just...I had to leave...I had to try!"

"What were you trying to do?" his dad said with a sigh after a moment passed.

Alfred frowned he was sure his brother must have told him what his plan was. His father certainly didn't seem as shocked and angry about his garden as he might have been had he come across it without expecting it. Though maybe the anger was still coming. He ducked his head down again and hunched his shoulders over his knees.

"Alfred," his father said softly, leaning over to brush his sweaty and dirty hair away from his eyes. "Talk to me."

"I wanted to go see Yao," Alfred finally mumbled after a moment.

"I see," his father said. "The same Yao you refused to leave your room and come down and say good bye to when he left last week?"

"I don't like good byes," Alfred said turning his head away to look at the wooden fence that stretched across the back of the property.

"I know you don't," his father said with a sigh.

"People tell you to say goodbye to people, like Mama and Bun Bun, and then they never come back," he said with softly.

"Oh Al," his father breathed and before he knew it he found himself gathered into his father's arms and pressed to the familiar chest in a deep hug despite how dirty and grimy he was and how he was getting his father just as dirty. "This isn't like those times, I promise."

"Yao's coming back?" Alfred asked hopefully.

"No..." his dad admitted after hesitating for a beat. "I don't think he will at least not until he's all grown up and can come back on his own."

"But he's not...forever gone?" Alfred asked even though he was afraid of the answer, he clutched at his father's t-shirt.

"No," his father said lifting his face so that they were eye to eye. "He is not forever gone. His family just moved back to China you knew since you met him he was only going to be here until his father finished his training."

"I know but I thought..." Alfred said with a frown. "I thought maybe they might decide to stay. It's so awesome here...more awesome then in China.."

"Do you know anything about China?" his father asked.

"No..." Alfred admitted. "He tried to teach me things but it was so confusing. But it's across the ocean and far away..."

"Yes it is..." his dad agreed.

"I'm probably never going to see him or hear from him again if it's so far away," Alfred said with a frown thinking of other friends who had moved out of town in the past, much closer then China, that he'd never seen after that. "Maybe he doesn't even want to..."

"That's not true and you'd know that if you'd come down and said goodbye to him," his dad said then he reached behind his back and pulled out a small stuffed Panda bear holding a red folded card with fancy writing on it. "He left this for you...I was holding it because you haven't mentioned him since he left...I probably shouldn't have."

Alfred stared at the Panda and then reached out and took it. He gently rubbed his fingers against his dad's shirt, earning him a hard glare, and then opened the card. There in Yao's neat, tidy script was a note thanking him for being his friend and a wish to continue their friendship by other means until they might meet again. He stared at the words and smiled.

"He gave me his new address," he said. "And his email address...though he knows I might not be able to use that one...and his phone number!"

"That one you definitely won't be using," his father said firmly taking the card from him before he could register what was happening. "I'll write down the other two for you to use when you get the chance and keep this in safe keeping."

"But...it's mine..." Alfred whined reaching for the card.

"You just locked your brother in the closet and dug a hole in my garden..." his father said with another cocked eyebrow. "Be glad I'm allowing you to have anything on this card at all right now."

Alfred snapped his mouth shut on any and all arguments he might have come up with as to why he should hold onto the card. He wiggled out of his dad's grip and wandered over to pick up his bag and placed the panda carefully inside it next to his bunny. He stared down at his hole with a growing frown. His arms still hurt and now that he'd been away from it for a while he realized how little progress he'd actually made.

"Was it really only half an hour?" he asked as he watched his dad bend over to pick up the shovel.

"Yes," his dad answered and handed him the shovel. "Replace all the dirt then you're going to go inside and have a bath and then into bed...you're up way later then you should be."

"But...I'm tired..." he whined and he really was tired his eyes felt much heavier now that he didn't have an excitement and nerves forcing them to stay open.

"You weren't too tired to dig it so you're not too tried to put it all back," his father said still holding the shovel out in his direction. "I don't want any animals to get ideas about digging holes in my yard."

"Yes, dad," Alfred said.

Thankfully putting the dirt back into the hole was a lot easier process then taking it out had been. His dad watched him for a moment in silence before he walked over to pick up the frosting and the spoon. The frosting was tossed into the garbage can in the tool shed the spoon was tucked into the front pocket on Alfred's backpack. He turned and crossed back to survey Alfred's work.

"Make sure you smooth it back out," he said. "That's good, tomorrow you can get some more dirt from the shed and fill it in some more...and then you can weed the garden for me since you'll be out here."

"But..." Alfred whined and then shut up knowing that this was probably going to be the most lenient of any punishments he received for this.

"Put the shovel away and get your stuff," his dad said.

Alfred hurried to put the shovel away and then shut the shed back up. It didn't seem nearly so scary with his dad out here with him but then nothing much seemed scary when his dad was around...except for his dad when he was angry. He was glad his dad didn't seem really angry with him over this. Upset yes, but not angry. At least not yet. In some ways that made it all that much worse.

He frowned as he crossed back over to where his had was waiting holding his backpack and his jacket. He took both and walked quietly at his dad's side as they crossed back across the yard towards the back door. He continued to be silent as his father locked the door, replaced the chair and marched him through the house and into the bathroom where he was subjected to his second bath of the day. He just cleaned himself quickly as his father took out his PJs and then left the room for a little while. Alfred could hear quiet conversing in the other room but he couldn't make out what his brother was saying.

He made sure he was done with his bath and into his PJs and brushing his teeth for a second time before his dad came back. His dad said nothing to that just raised an eyebrow at him and cleaned up his mess of towels and rinsed out the sink while Alfred finished. Then they walked into his bedroom and were met by an icy silence.

Mathew was in his bed, his back curled towards the door and the blanket pulled up over his head. Alfred glanced up at his father who met his gaze quietly and then he glanced away quickly noting guiltily the closet door still propped partially open with the chair in front of it. He walked over to it and without being told put the chair away and closed the door then he crawled into bed and waited for his father to join him.

"Am I in really bad trouble?" he finally forced himself to ask. From Matthew's bed there was a load snort.

"I...haven't decided yet," his dad said softly. "It you hadn't put your brother in the closet I might not have punished you at all."

"But I did..." Alfred said with a frown he really wished he hadn't done that especially since he didn't get very far anyway.

"But you did," his dad agreed with a nod. "That was not a very nice thing to do Alfred, I'm very disappointed in you."

Alfred ducked his head at his dad's words and he could feel them echoed in the disappointed tone of his dad's voice. He really did hate disappointing his dad even though he seemed to do it an awful lot. "He was going to tell you I was leaving," he said somewhat plaintively knowing it wasn't much of an excuse.

"He was just looking out for you," his dad answered without blinking an eye at Alfred's words. "He was trying to keep you safe and out of trouble and you put him in a closet because of it..."

"But it wasn't locked all the way..." Alfred pointed out hurriedly trying to save himself a little even though it would probably only dig himself deeper into trouble. There was another snort from Matthew's bed.

"I know but that doesn't make it any better," his dad said.

"I know," Alfred said finally. "I shouldn't have done it and I shouldn't have tried to leave and I shouldn't have listening to Lovino's uncle that I could get to China by digging through the center of the earth..." he babbled deciding to get all his transgressions out into the open right away rather then let Matthew reveal them slowly.

"Is that where you got that idea from?" his dad said with a weary sigh. "I should have know. What have I told you about listening to anything those three ass...jerks have to say."

"Not to listen to them..." Alfred said with a frown. "But why not? They know lots of stuff..."

"They think they do at any rate," his dad said dryly with a shake of his head. "They also have no trouble misleading a well intentioned child by giving him false information and then laughing at him behind his back when he thinks it's true."

"But..." Alfred said still certain he hadn't been lied too.

"You can't get to China by digging through the earth," his dad said.

"It could be true," Alfred insisted. "It could really be true."

"It's not, Alfred," his dad said firmly brushing his fingers through the damp hair on Alfred's forehead.

"But why not?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Well..." his dad said trailing off and seeming to think for a bit. "What's under the ground?"

"Dirt," Alfred supplied quickly, he'd just learned that first hand.

"And what's under the dirt?"

"More dirt?" Alfred answered, it seemed a logical enough answers.

"Yes," his dad chuckled. "I suppose there is but how about under that...and no more dirt..." he chided as Alfred opened his mouth to answer just that.

Alfred frowned and thought about the things he'd seen above the ground that might be under it as well. There were tree above ground and their roots were under but he didn't think that that was what his father was looking for. There were rocks on the ground as well and some of them came up from underneath and formed mountains and stuff. "Rocks...and stone!" he said feel proud of himself as his father nodded and smiled back.

"Yes there are lots of them layered with lots of different kinds of soil and dirt," his father explained. "There's miles and miles and miles of these layers and do you know what's underneath all those layers?"

"What...what is it?" Alfred asked curiously.

"A layer of molten magma," his father said dropping his voice the way he did when he told stories. "Do you know what magma is called when it's above ground?"

Alfred thought about it for a long moment and shook his head.

"It's lava."

"Like from a volcano?" Alfred asked in a surprised voice.

"Like from a volcano," his father confirmed with a nod. "That comes from inside the earth."

"And it's really liquid inside there?" Alfred asked his brain buzzing with this information.

"Yes that's what causes the earth's plates...those are what we walk around and live on...to move about," his dad said.

"But it doesn't feel like they're moving about," Alfred said not sure he should believe what his dad was telling him or not.

"It's like the earth in space," his father said and Alfred's eyes lit up at the mention. He loved all things related to space. "It's moving around the sun right now isn't it?" Alfred nodded his head in hurried agreement. "But we can't feel it, the only thing that tells us that it's moving is the days and the seasons."

"So the ground under us is moving but we can't feel it?" Alfred asked.

"Exactly...but there are signs that it's happening like the days and the seasons," his dad explained. "When the plates move and rub together we get earthquakes and when they meet and pass underneath each other that's when we get..."

"Volcanoes?" Alfred supplied excitedly.

"Exactly," his dad said with a grin. "It creates a place for that magma to escape through up to the surface."

"Awesome," Alfred breathed making a mental note to check out all the books he could find about volcanoes and earthquakes from the library that he could find and maybe try to convince his dad to let him use the computer to look other stuff out...when he wasn't being punished that was.

"Yeah, " his dad agreed with a grin. "It is pretty awesome. And underneath the magma layer is another type of liquid layer and under that is a solid, rocky icy cold core."

"Wow," Alfred breathed trying to picture all the layers that were underneath his feet and getting very strange images in his head.

"So you can see why digging through the center of the earth to China would be completely impossible," his father said after giving him a moment to process the information.

"I don't think it would be impossible though," Alfred said with a shake of his head.

"But the center is miles and miles and hundreds of miles down," his father said. "Not even the most high tech and modern drills have gotten anywhere near it and then you'd have to go back out the other side..."

"But if I had the right sort of ship..." Alfred wondered out loud thinking about all the designs in his head he had for possible space ships wondering if any of them could work for going inside the earth instead.

"But you don't have the right sort of ship..." his father pointed out gently.

"Not yet..." he admitted with a slightly frown. "But maybe someday I will...maybe someday I'll design it!"

"Maybe you will," his father said with an affectionate ruffle of his hair.

Alfred's head spun with these new wild thoughts. He totally could design the right ship. Not just could he would...someday he would and he would get to the center of the earth and through the other side and make it to China to see Yao. He just hoped his friend would wait for him that long.

"But if you don't make it to China that way you could always take a more conventional means of travel to get there," his dad said idly as if he could read the very thoughts going through Alfred's head. "Like a plane..."

"You'd let me go there?" Alfred asked in surprise.

"When you're old enough," his dad said with a nod then he seemed to think about something and added quickly. "And if you start to behave..."

"I can behave!" Alfred said quickly. There was another loud snort from the other bed. Alfred glared at the lump on top of it in irritation. "I can!"

"I'm sure you can do anything if you set your mind too it," his dad said and then brushed a smiling kiss against his forehead. "Now time to sleep, you're up way past your bedtime."

"Hey," Alfred said with a drowsy smile and a yawn. "I am, aren't I?"

"That's not something to be proud about," his dad said sternly. "Tomorrow I'll have to decide how I'm going to punish you." His dad frowned and Alfred squirmed under the weight of it. He was a little surprised when his dad leaned closer and whispered to him. "But if you apologize to your brother...and really mean it...I might let you off with just some chores and no TV for a while..."

Alfred's eyes widened in shock at his dad even thinking about going easily on him. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and squeezed his father returned the hug and then settled him back down onto the bed.

"Good night Alfred," his dad said as he pulled the blankets up and flicked off the light.

He crossed the room towards Matthew's bed. He sat down next to the lump and he pulled back the covers just enough so that they could talk softly to each other. Matthew shook his head rather violently at something their dad said and Alfred flopped against his pillow with a frown. His dad told his brother goodnight and kissed him on the head and then left the room, leaving the door open just a crack.

He could hear his dad going back into the bathroom and then turned his attention back to the other bed with a frown. His dad had said if he apologized to Matthew and he meant it he might get off a little easier on the punishment front. That shouldn't be too hard he really was sorry for putting his brother into the closet and he would have apologized even if his dad hadn't made his comment. But getting his brother to accept it would be a lot harder. His brother was stubborn and he was sure to drag his feet on this. Even if Alfred really meant it and gave him the big eyes and promised him ice cream and action figures and even...comics.

He didn't want to have to whine and plead at his brother to get him to forgive him. He really wished he hadn't put his brother in the closet at all it hadn't helped and had only made things worse and made them both feel sad. With a frown he sat up and climbed out of the bed. He reached into his bag and pulled out the panda and padded softly over to his brother's bed. He could tell from the way the lumped stiffed when he drew near that his brother was still awake.

"Mattie..." he said in softly.

"Go 'way..." Matthew said in the snuffly voice he got after he'd been crying for a while. That made Alfred feel ten times worse.

"Please, Mattie..." he pleaded in a hushed tone. "Can I get in with you?"

"No...go 'way..." Matthew said again trying to tug his blanket back up over his head.

Alfred reached out and grabbed the blanket to stop him. "Please...my bed is all cold..."

"It's your fault for running all over the place," Matthew mumbled it was a sign that he was weakening and Alfred jumped at it.

"Please...Mattie..." he pressed.

There was a sigh and for a moment Alfred thought his brother would continue to refuse but then Matthew shifted over enough to allow Alfred room to climb on and join him under the covers. Moved closer to the warm spot that Matthew created in the bed and clutched his panda to his chest.

"I'm sorry I put you in the closet," he said and he meant it.

There was a shuffled of sheets and body parts until Matthew had flopped over to face him. He was clutching his own white bear in his arms. "It's not the closet that hurt me," his brother said softly. "You were going to leave me behind..."

"No..." Alfred said with a frown. "I wasn't...I wasn't!" he insisted as Matthew gave him a skeptical look. "I just miss Yao and wanted to see him again but I didn't want to leave you...'sides I can never leave you...you'll always be there with me no matter where I am. I'd never leave you behind!"

Matthew seemed to think about his words and then shifted a bit closer. If they were younger they would probably have curled up together like they did during storms a few years earlier but they were big boys now and weren't supposed to need to do that anymore or so Lovino said when he'd found out. Though Lovino's younger brother told them once that Lovino still sometimes did the same when it stormed really bad outside.

"You promise?" Matthew asked.

"Of 'course I promise!" Alfred answered without hesitation.

"Okay," Matthew said. "Good. I promise I won't leave you behind either."

Alfred felt something lighten in his chest. That was as good an apology accepted as he could think of getting. He moved forward and pulled his brother into a hug that was returned with just as much strength. Neither moved away as sleep began to claim them.

"Maybe I'll even take you on my ship to the center of the earth!" he said with a large yawn still excited. "Did you know there's liquid underneath our feet? And someday I'm gonna see it and I'm gonna take you with me when I do!"

"If you say so, Alfred," Matthew said sleepily as he drifted off to sleep.

"I do say so!"

Alfred said firmly making a promise to himself that he would do it before he got old like his dad. He shifted his arms a bit so that he could look at his new panda. It was a little girly to still sleep with a stuffed animal at 8 years old, only his brother could get away with it, but he didn't put it aside and instead pulled it closer. He thought about Yao and how he missed his friend but then he remembered that he would be able to write him letters and postcards and would get them back and he felt better. He'd always wanted a real pen pal like in the old stories that his father sometimes told them about his own child hood and his own pen pal who lived in Portugal. Someday he would see Yao again he was sure of it but he had to admit he felt better still here with his family then he probably would halfway across the world away for them.

He was right where he needed to be.

* * *

The End


End file.
